Street cat
by CaciaCoon
Summary: Humanstuck AU! Nepeta is a 26 year old street musician, who plays the didgeridoo, making her way in the abandoned subway tunnels of NYC. Karkat is a music executive, working in one of NYC's most prestigious record labeling companies. A chance encounter sparks a relationship that encompasses more than meets the eye- R&R! Katnep and a few others. T for swearing, alcohol, and themes.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a cute little humanstuck I wanted to write. Pairings Katnep, Equaradia, Kurlin, SignlessxDisciple, and maybe I can sneak in some others. Set in New York city, I apologize if i mess up on anything. I live on the west coast. **

**So basically, warnings for cursing [but hey, you read homestuck] suggestive themes, alcohol usage in later chapters, and so forth. Nothing that bad, really. I think it'll be a solid T throughout.**

**Enjoy.**

Karkat Vantas opened one eye lazily. Was it really monday? It was, wasn't it. He groaned and sat up, looking at his alarm clock. He had an hour to get to work. The twenty-eight year old man worked at a recording company owned by his father that put out some of the most popular music of the last three years- he was grateful a thousand times over for the job given to him by his dad, but DAMN he had to get up early. He swung his legs out of bed and fumbled towards the door of his room. His brother Kankri was already up, as well as his stoner flatmate Gamzee Makara. They all shared a flat, it saved money and they all enjoyed each other's company. "Good morning, brother." Kankri yawned. Karkat narrowed his eyes. Kankri was not usually one to stay up late, Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Kankri the night before at all. "Where where you last night?" He asked. Kankri grinned and turned his attention back to the eggs he was making. "Nowhere you'll ever be, my single virgin brother." He said in a teasing tone. Gamzee laughed lazily at this. Karkat scowled and threw a wadded-up magazine at his brother. "Screw you." He growled as he got out the cereal supplies. "Sounds like Kk has that figured out already, Karbro." Gamzee drawled. Karkat scowled again, even more grumpily, and pulled the frosted flakes out of the cabinet. Karkt wolfed down the cereal quickly and went to go get dressed for another eight-hour day licensing whatever new fad came through the works.

Nepeta Leijon awoke with a yawn and stretched arms. She looked around the very dark subway tunnel. Actually, she couldn't see a thing. The young twenty-six woman reached and fumbled for the small lantern she kept near her sleeping roll. Her small hand reached the device and pressed the button, illuminating the abandoned tunnel that ran under New York City. She could now see clearly, and took the time to take note where everyone else was. Her mother was sleeping on the other side of the tunnel, Porrim was sleeping in a very neat position on parallel to Nepeta, Horuss was a big lump in the middle of the tracks, and her older sister Meulin was sleeping soundly in the arms of the mime Kurloz. She smirked. Of course she was. There were a few other people in the colony, but Nepeta couldn't be bothered. She stood up and stretched felineishly, grabbed her long corduroy bag that held her didgeridoo, and began the trek down the tunnel towards the live tunnels, and eventually towards the entrance where she could make her way to the streets. She had a new street corner in mind she wanted to try out, she hoped it would garner more cash than usual. Sure, she got more money than the guitar players because hey, didges were cool, but she didn't get nearly as much money as her sister, who was a fire-swallower and general street carny, or Porrim, who was an amazing expressionist dancer. She had to prove that she could earn her instrument [she could sell the didge for a lot of money] and she desperately wanted to keep it. So, she rose early and set out to play the street corners of NYC.

Karkat checked his watch. "Shit." he muttered. He had twenty minutes to get to work. He had to walk since he didn't own a car, and he was always overlooked by cabbies. He started to briskly walk, he didn't like to be late at all. He crossed a street hurridly and kept his pace until a trance-inducing noise hit his ears. Karkat looked in the direction of the ound. It was a young woman, maybe one or two years his junior, playing a didgeridoo just in front of him, sitting against the brick wall of the building. After a few minutes, the girl looked up. "May I mew, sir? You seem to drifted pawf!" Karkat blinked. "Oh, yeah sorry. You know, you're really good with that didge." she smiled. "Thank mew! I playing it a lot." Karkat softly smiled. "Have you heard of Xavier Rudd?" he asked. She nodded in exitement. "Oh yes, sir! He's quite pawssibly the best didgeridoo player in the country!" Karkat grinned, at least someone what he was talking about. "I'm Karkat. Here, you deserve this-" he fished the first bill his fingers found in his pocket. "Here." She stared at it. "That is quite a lot of money to a simple street performer like me." She said concernedly. It was a twenty. Karkat shook his head. "No, no. Keep it. It'll help me, too. If I can't buy McDonald's, I can't eat it." Nepeta giggled. "Bye, Karkat." She said as he realized he had to go. "By the way, I'm Nepeta!" she shouted after him. He raised his hand quickly to acknowledge he heard as he bolted through the doors to his officeplace.

Karkat slammed his stuff as quietly as he could on his office desk. "Whew." He said. He had a fairly nice office, a smallish room that had a desk, a computer, a swivel chair, and a small bookshelf. He actually wasn't going to spend a whole lot of time here today, because today would be the day he was going to actually be reviewing the new applicants for Crabcat record labels. Karkat thought the name was funny, considering his name was Karkat and most knew him to be a total crab. He quickly picked up his briefcase again and hustled to the recording room where the twenty some musicians and bands would be, waiting their turn. "Shoot. Sorry guys." He said as he entered the room swiftly. "Got a bit held up on the way." He said. His colleague Amy Fisher, whom he suspected liked him, just smiled. "It's okay, Karkat. Most of them aren't here either." He shrugged. "Musician thing." She smiled again. "What held you up? You're never late." He tinted slightly, his reason was kind of stupid. "Um...Generosity." He said lamely. Amy tried to hug him, but he deftly dodged. Then the musicians filed in. "Ah." Karkat said. "Welcome to Crabcat Record labels. Who wants to go first?"

Nepeta continued to play her didgeridoo, very happily. The twenty dollars was was going to be enough for food and maybe a few trinkets she could sell at a higher price, and she was already getting more. She smiled and nodded at everybody who dropped in anything. A little girl came up and dropped twenty cents, some pigeon dithers, gum wrappers, and bottle caps. Nepeta stopped playing and looked at the girl. She smiled cheekily. "Is that enough? I didn't know how much you needed." Nepeta grinned. "We cool, little girl. We cool." The girl skipped off back to her parents and Nepeta got back to playing. She looked across the street to a small parish thing with trees and a pond and some benches where Porrim was doing her dancing and Kurloz and Meulin were doing their joint act of furious silence. Kurloz noticed her and gave a lazy, quick thumbs-up accompanied by an almost indiscernible grin from her sister. She smiled back at them while she played. Her situation may not be the best, but she really couldn't imagine being anywhere else. She would stay on the streets probably for the rest of her life, she imagined. She was well liked. She had even gotten a nickname used collectively in the surprisingly close-knit community street performers- the Street Cat. Probably had something to do with her constant cat puns and emulations, but she enjoyed the nickname.

Karkat graoned as he walked back to his office, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Well, that was an easy six hours down the drain. Not one of the sixteen new artists had any talent remotely, and Karkat had almost flipped his shit at this one guy who used hashtags, swag, lol, and yolo constantly in real conversations. God. He sat in his poofy chair, marveling at how nice it felt compared to standing for hours on end. He then sat up straighter, cracked his knuckles, and began to type into his computer the data he collected. On the business one- the one that was entered into the log, he forced himself to be civil and put actual grades on them. But on the one he sent to his father [the chief executive of the company] he put SHIT; SHIT; CRAP; TOTAL GARBAGE; NO WAY; CRAP; ASSWIPES. in the grading section. His dad would get a kick out of it. The clock on his desk shaped aptly like grumpy cat rang four times, which meant he was out for the day. "Yes." He fist pumped, grabbed his stuff, and dashed out of the office. "Later dorks!" He called crabbily behind him, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible. A thought occurred to him- one that lifted his spirits slightly, a sweet comparison to the previous hours. Maybe that Nepeta girl would still be there.

**Did you like it? Please review! Did you not like it? Please review! I can take your flames! But I don't really deserve them, do I? ;u;**

**I would like at least one or two reviews before updating, but I have a TON of muse for this story, so I'll have these chapters rolling.**

**Goodbye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for reviewing this story! I replied to all of you who used an account. To the two of you anons that gave me the really nice, long review I read a bunch of times [ x33] Thank both of you so much. It makes me feel really loved and I'm glad this story is so well received. It's quickly becoming my second-most-reviewed story, which is really, really cool. I'll try and make the chapters longer and stuff. Here, I tried to break up the paragraphs, and there's a little smidgen on Kurlin in here. Enjoy.**

Nepeta looked around at the sky and the thinning foot traffic around her. It was pretty much the end of the work day. It would pretty much end the flow of people who would be counted upon to drop in a quarter or two. Besides, that gang had been starting to run amuck. She was just putting her didgeridoo in her specialy made bag when she jumped at a voice deeper than hers.

"Hello again."

She looked up, ready to fight or make a run for it if needed. But, no, it was not a thug or a gangster, or even a drunken college student. It was that man who had given her a twenty that morning. "Oh, hello!" she said with a brightened tone. "Thank you a lot for the money! We'll be able to get some niceish-food tonight." She chirped, but then frowned. "Are you sure you don't want it back? It's really a lot of money for just me."

Karkat smiled softly and shook his head no. "I really don't. You play well enough to be earning way more than that." He said. Nepeta's cheeks tinted lightly. "Do you mind if I sit?" He asked. She shook her head. "Go ahead. I'll warn you, it's not very comfortable." Nepeta used a mock-stern accent.

He chuckled. "I think I'll be fine." and sat down on the pavement next to her. "So, you're a street didgeist?" He asked. Nepeta nodded. "Yep! I've had my didgeridoo for almost ten years now!" Karkat ran a hand through his hair. "Wow. For all my work in the music industry, I can't play shit on anything." They shared a small laugh. Both of them were thinking something along the same lines: "Hey, I could get used to this."

About an hour and a half later, Karkat checked his watch. "Wow. It's been almost an hour and a half." She blinked. "Purrealy?" she asked. Karkat nodded. "It was nice getting to know you and all, but I should really be going. My brother will wonder where I've gone." She nodded. "So should I." Nepeta smiled at him, and he reciprocated. "So, see you tomorrow I guess?" Karkat asked her. "Sure!" Nepeta agreed. "I'll be right here tomorrow." Karkat stood up. "Bye!" he said as she stood and began to make her way towards the subway station not all that far away. "Bye!" she said, waving behind her.

Nepeta smiled to herself as she darted through the crowds and the turnstiles. She got some panic as she hopped off the yellow strip and began to dart down to the train tracks. She knew the train schedules in and out, so she wouldn't get mowed down by a train.

She kept travelling along the lines until she came to the place she had come for. A messy intersection, with one line blocked off with a cement wall. She snuck through a laregish hole in the wall, and entered the abandoned maze of tunnels. She pulled out her flashlight and walked until she came upon the tunnel she called home. She looked around the tunnel. Everyone was sitting around a small group of flashlights, eating canned ravioli. "Where the hell have you been?" Meulin asked in an annoyed tone. "We got really worried. We thought you had been taken out by those gangsters we've been hearing about." Kurloz, Horuss, Porrim, and her mother looked expectantly at her. "Oh." she squeaked. "I'm sorry. I got a bit- er, caught up." She flushed slightly, but then remembered the money in the little pouch she kept it in, because hats were for hipsters.

"You'd better have a good excuse for staying out so late." Horuss said sternly. Horuss acted like a big brother to everyone, but mostly Meulin and her. He seemed to think they were always doing something unsafe [which was usually the case]. "I have an excellent excuse!" She snipped. She pulled the money out of the pouch. "See, I got almost forty-five dollars today. That's twice more than usual." Her mother blinked. "How on earth did you get that much money?" She sounded surprised. "Playing that _stick?" _Meulin wrinkled her nose. It was no secret most of them thought it was a lost cause trying to make money off of it, although Porrim thought it was one of the more beautiful talents they had among them.

Nepeta sat down next to them, her coattails arousing some dust from the stone floor. "This really nice dude gave me twenty dollars this morning. His name was Karkat- [hee hee, I called him Karkitty] and I was late because I talked with him way longer than I should have after the work day was done." She explained honestly, looking blankly up towards the ceiling, Oh boy, would she never hear the end of this. Horuss furrowed his brow while everyone else started quietly laughing. "Nepeta, that was not safe. What if he had hurt you?" Nepeta shook her head. "He did not seem like the kind of guy to hurt anyone." Porrim laughed into her hand, she obviously thought it was funny. "Oh, Nep, you're so funny sometimes." Meulin snorted. "Was that that guy in the sweater? Who nearly tripped over you this morning?"

Nepeta shrugged. "...Yes?" Meulin slyly smiled. "He seems like a real grump." Nepeta looked off to the side. "It's not like Kurloz doesn't use bad words. Come on." They all burst into laughter while Kurloz scowled. He was usually silent, but on occasion he would just become a fountain of profanity whenever he did anything, and before he had gone silent he had used the Mfucker word so many times it wash't really even a bad word anymore.

Everybody laughed so hard that Meulin ended up clutching at her throat after laughing too hard. Her hearing was not the best in the world, and often had a hard time controlling her volume, but she could hear words as long as you didn't talk too fast and you were fairly close to her. Kurloz looped his arms around her tightly, pulling her somewhat forcefully into his lap, and proceeded to bury his face in her thick black hair, but Meulin could hear him laughing quietly.

Everyone smiled softly at this for a few moments, before Nepeta and Meulin's mother [Who was usually referred to as the Disciple, no one knew why, but it seemed to have something to do with her past] spoke in her usual, motherly tone. "Nepeta, I appreciate the finances you've brought us, but staying out an hour and a half later talking to a stranger is dangerous. I know it's not like I can stop you from doing what you want, but PLEASE be careful. You know how much we worry. I don't need any more things to worry at night." Horuss nodded. "Nepeta, please follow your mother's advice. Don't get caught in something you don't want to be. This boy is a total stranger, and we don't know anything about him. Make smart decisions."

Nepeta nodded. "Of course, guys. I'll be fine. Thanks for the concern, though." She got up and padded over to her sleeping roll, she was tired. "Goodnight guys. Love all of you." Everyone uttered a similar reply, and went off to their respective sleeping rolls, [except for Meulin of course. Nepeta wasn't sure she even used her sleeping roll anymore.], as it was getting to be about the time they all went to sleep. They all had busy days tomorrow, with Horuss selling metal trinkets, Porrim dancing, Her mother selling things she found at a low price, Kurloz and Meulin's joint act, and Nepeta's didgeridoo.

Karkat walked up the stairs to the apartment he shared with Gamzee and Kankri. It was pretty big for a NYC apartment, but that's why they all lived together, because it was easier to pay the bills and rent with all three of their income. Kankri owned a small food cart that sold vegan 'crap', in Karkat's opinion, but that the sensitive new-age artists who seemed to infest the [globe] city ate right up [no pun intended], and even Gamzee worked at some freaky club for others of his freaky kind. "Hello, brother." Kankri said in his distinct voice, which sounded fairly bored most of the time, whenever he was talking about anything. "Hello, brother." Karkat mocked. Kankri raised an eyebrow. "And just where have you been? it is seven forty-five. That is more than an hour and a h-"

Karkat cut him off. "I know that, dumbass." he growled, setting his stuff down on the floor and flopping on the couch, across from the chair that Kankri had been reading in. "Where have you been? You didn't text me or anything." Karkat scowled. "What are you, my mom? Do I have to text you ever half-hour telling you where I am or some bullshit like that? Geez. I was talking with this girl." Kankri's eyebrows seemed to have a bit of a helium problem. "A _girl?_ Are my ears failing me? Where did you ever meet a _girl_ that was willing to hold a conversation with you for that long?"

Kankri winced when Karkat reached over and punched him in the arm. Hard. "Shut up. She was a street musician playing a didgeridoo. I stopped and listened to her, and we got to talking about music. I'll have you know it was better than listening to you go on and on about reading Foust or whatever the hell that is for the eightieth time." He gestured towards the book in Kankri's hands. "I'll have you know Foust is a classic written over a sixty-year time period by the very distinguished Gothe-" Karkat stood up and waved him hand. "Yes, yes, yes. Bye. I'm going to my room. Have fun." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Flopping on his bed, he groaned loudly, letting all the stress out from his day with one breath, sinking into the bed. God, was he tired. It wasn't even that late. In fact, he usually stayed up well past this. But for some day it had been very draining dealing with a bunch of idiots who didn't know how to play music, more so than it was usually. Pulling the blankets over him messily, he drifted off to sleep quickly, a single wisp of thought leaving his head as he did so. Unsurprsingly, it was about Nepeta. Before he lost consciousness, Karkat decided he would like to talk to her again.

**That was almost two thousand words long! xD I'm sorry for any grammatical or spelling mistakes. Please review leaving suggestions, tips, or anything you'd like to see if you want me to get any of that, because I can't read your mind.**

**That would be really weird if I could read my reader's minds.**

**But super cool.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ugh. I'm so sorry for not updating this. I promise to update this story at least once a week until it's finished. I promise. Especially since it's summer now. This chapter is kind of long, but chapter four is halfway written. By the way, this is two months in the future. He still hasn't met her 'family'.**

**Also, slight plot twist. I know, i know, I should do this IC, but it has to be made clear that Meulin and Nepeta are, yes, siblings, as are all the dancestors and beta trolls, but the Disciple is not their mother. This will be explained and developed upon soon enough.**

**and also, there's lots of in-the-past reacharounds that connect a lot of characters together, weather it's really minor, or big. **

Waking up with the chirping of some godforsaken bird, Karkat opened his eyes slowly. Oh boy, was he glad it was the weekend. Saturday was a good day. He propped himself up on his elbow, squinting at the sudden light. He felt like he had something to do today...what was it?

...Did it have something to do with Nepeta?

Karkat allowed himself to flop back into his bed with a _poomf, _dropping a hand unceremoniously to his face. Of course it did. He just could not get her out of his head. Even though he had only known her for a little more than a two months now, he was totally smitten with her. _No, no, no._ He told himself, groaning in frustration. _You are not _smitten_ with her. She is a friend that you talk to on the street corners._

But he was lying. Okay, he did have a thing for her. Kind of. It wasn't his fault she was funny and cute [even if she wore seventh-hand clothes] and it didn't help she could talk with him about his line of expertise effortlessly. God. What was wrong with him? _you should know_ _better,_ his inner voice whispered with an almost smug undertone. _You of all people should know better, falling for this girl so fast. Remember Terezi? That didn't end all too well, did it now?__  
_

Karkat gritted his teeth and released a small noise that could be called 'seething'. "Shut up, me. I REMEMBER TEREZI. That was...different. She didn't even like me. It was just her obsession with the stupid color red. I don't need to be reminded of her, anyways." Karkat picked himself out of his bed and stood up grumpily, his previous almost-happy mood ruined by thoughts of his ex-girlfriend. He didn't know why he was still dwelling on her. They had dated in high school, more than ten years ago, and i was a pretty shot relationship, anyways.

Shaking his head to clear her from his mind, He started pulling his pants on. Whatever it was he had to do today, he could probably find out by asking Nepeta. Since Nepeta was always at that street corner of hers, so he was fairly certain he could go find her easily.

* * *

Nepeta was woken up by the sound of Kurloz and Meulin snoring in sync. She twitched her nose in annoyance. For someone who had taken a vow of silence, he was pretty loud in his sleep. Meulin's snoring was slightly better, but not much. Nepeta sat up, stretching quietly. She looked at the plastic watch on her wrist [decorated with a feline pokémon she thought was named Skitty] that told twelve-oh-for. If she had a tail, it would have frizzed. Oh man. She had missed at least four hours of opportunity, and it was a saturday, too!

And everyone else was still asleep. Nepeta stood up with her fists on her hips, sniffing angrily. Didn't anyone realize that there was work to be done and money to be made about her? Fine. If everyone else wanted sleep the day away, so be it. They just better had not forget about the Gathering tonight.

Nepeta's eyes widened as she remembered she had invited Karkat to that. If she knew anything about him, he would probably not have remembered anything about it, and would try and ask her about it again. And they always talked at the street corner [sometimes in central park which was right across the way, too, but they always met at the same street corner.

Quickly tugging on her hat, deciding to not bring the didgeridoo out [if no one else was going to work today, she sure as heck wouldn't.] she quickly pranced over her sleeping family's [They were still her family, in her book, even if Meulin was the only one she shared blood with. In her book, blood does not define family.] forms, making her way to the hole in the concrete.

After making her daily dash down the subway tunnels, up through the passages of escalators and crowded halls of people, Nepeta finally made it above ground. Although, she did stop in the public bathroom, mostly to run her fingers through her hair and attempt to wash away the general griminess off of her skin. She would take a shower later [although a shower was pretty much chap travel conditioner and shampoo, used while washing her hair in a sink somewhere, then using a hand dryer to dry it off. Nepeta did not see homelessness an an excuse to not keep yourself at least semi-respectable, something her family all took part in.], but for now she just wanted to look half presentable.

Nepeta bonded up to the street corner, and looked around. Ah, there he was.

* * *

"Dear f/ing god, where is she?" Karkat grumbled, his hands discontentedly jammed in the pockets of his mundane grey pants. He had been here for nearly twenty minutes, which was enough time to go grab a sandwich and coffee from Feferi's coffee shop [ His friend Feferi was always pretty nice to him, and it was better than whatever sludge anyone else was serving these days. Also, Karkat had a strong dislike for hipsters, and they ran more than half of the coffee industry in New York, it seemed to him]

He was just about to leave, grumbling something about 'The ONE time I'm not tripping over her...' Until he heard a frantic "Karkitty!" Behind him. He whipped around, washing in slight relief. Only she called him that, and anyone else who tried was aggressively rebuked. [Amy had witnessed them parting once, and had learned the nickname there. She had tried it on him the next morning, but Karkat only gave her a glowering stare and turned around.]

But was their another emotion going through his nervous system right now, that was triggered by her?

_no., _he growled inwardly. _We are not doing this right now, brain. _Karkat shook his head. "Hey Nepeta!" He sounded more cheerful than he should be. Nepeta caught up with him, panting slightly. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner! My whole famewly had decided it was a good idea to sleep the whole day away!" Kakrat waved it off. "I do that all the time. It's okay. Anyway, what was I supposed to be doing with you tonight? Something about your weird street friends?"

Nepeta blinked. "Yeah! There's a gathering tonight, and I wanted to invite you. You'll get to meet my family, as well as a lot of other street people! Actually, we're all kind of a big family. Anyway, I wanted you to come since everyone's been wanting to meet you since I told them about you at the last meeting." Her nose and cheeks glazed a minute shade of red when she said this, but it quickly dispersed.

Karkat thought about it. Why not? It would be fun to meet everyone she always told him about, and he sure didn't want to hang out with his flatmates for the night. Besides, Kankri had some sort of date with this mystery girlfriend he kept talking about. "Yeah, sure. Why not?" Nepeta's eyes brightened and she smiled widely, momentarily hugging him. She blushed and soon released him, but they both ended up laughing.

"So," she said. "It starts at six. Although, I advise you to come here at maybe five thirty, because it's a bit of a walk and I want to make sure you find it alright." Karkat nodded. "Yeah, I'll be here at six. I gotta go grocery shopping, while I'm out, and maybe today I'll take care of whatever other cruddy loose ended errands I have."

"Alright!" Nepeta smiled as he began to walk off, waving at him. It did really mean a lot to her that he was coming, partly because she wanted him to meet everyone and partly because everyone wanted to meat the 'Karkat' she had been talking about. Well, this would be the perfect opportunity. Nepeta decided that she might want to simply walk around today, and maybe buy a bite or two to eat. She hadn't had a nice turkey sandwich in what seemed like forever, but now she had a few dollars she could use freely to buy one. Today, she decided, was going to be a good day.

* * *

[**Five hours later]**

Karkat pulled on a long-sleeved T-shirt, his cancer sweater, and a hoodie over it. The hoodie was the only part of his outfit that was not black/grey, being a dark brown and with a pictograph of a red, bleeding wound. Kinda morbid, but whatever. The thing was heavy, and Kankri had given it to him. He would never admit it, but he still loved his brother, even after the years of him being an annoying prick nonstop. Anyways, he had so many layers on because he didn't quite trust the dropping temperatures of late november with only his normal sweater.

He walked out of his room to encounter Kankri, wearing his normal red, woolen sweater he had come back from a date with once.

Speaking of Kankri's girlfriend, Karkat still hadn't met her. Accoriding to Kankri, she had some 'questionable morals' and was a 'triggering personality', but he always seemed happier and a little less inclined to ramble when he came back. Apparently they had been dating for about a year now, whoever she was, and it really bugged Karkat how he hadn't met her yet.

"Going somewhere, little brother?" Kankri asked in his normal, uptight voice, eyeing the sweatshirt with a knowing look.

"I could say the same thing about you." Karkat snorted, gesturing to his obviously cleaner-than-normal-which-was-pretty-clean look. Kankri crossed his arms. "Maybe, yes." Karkat swore he could see a tricky gleam in his eyes.

"Whatever." Karkat said. "See you later, dillweed."

Nepeta was in the public bathroom of the subway station, currently rinsing her hair in the sink of the cheap conditioner/shampoo she had just used. She moved her head over to the hand dryer, pressing the button, releasing a jet of hot air to her hear. It burned her scalp a little bit, but it dried her hair pretty fast. Standing up, she looked into the mirror, arranged her hair, and pulled her hat on. She took the free sample of perfume she had nabbed from the makeup store across the street, mostly because it was just enough to mask the scent of the street.

Okay. Now, she deemed herself fit. She hoped her family and friends would have the sense to do the same.

Nepeta hopped up the stairs towards the street corner, humming happily. She couldn't wait for Karkat to meet her family- and she believed Porrim was going to bring her boyfriend to this meeting, too? Huh. Nepeta didn't speak to him all that much, but they had all met him, and he had come to a few meetings. Usually only about once or twice a year. What was his name again? She couldn't remember. Started with a K. Like Karkat... in fact, he did seem a lot like an older Karkat, now that she thought about it.

Didn't he mention having a brother once or twice?

Karkat walked casually towards the normal street corner, hands in his pockets. He wondered where Kankri could possibly have to go? Kankri usually enjoyed staying in on Saturdays, because even the most professional of prudes needed to have a day of the week where laziness was permitted. "Hey Nep!" He called out when he saw her. She seemed to be having a minor fret about something, although he wasn't sure about what. Well, Duh. Of course he didn't know what she was fretting about. She turned around and smiled brightly. God, did he love that smile. Karkat gave a soft smile of his own, that lingered on his lips longer than normal.

Nepeta watched him smile. A small twinge flared in her stomach whenever he did. Heck, whenever she saw him, she got butterflies. I was almost like...she liked him? Huh. Nepeta hadn't had a crush in...years, actually. Not since fifth grade, when her adoptive could still afford to send them to public school, and there was the short boy who yelled at the teacher. She had always found him very cute, and a sweet character when you got around to talking to him, but he had moved to a different school by sixth grade and she stopped going to school after tenth grade. Now, she couldn't even remember his name.

Well. Anyways.

The two exchanged a small [friendly, right?] hug, before Karkat scratched the back of his neck and asked where they were going.

"It's not that far." Nepeta explained as she started walking in the direction of the particular alley the meeting was to be held in. "Just a mile or so. Flat terrain. I can't really say it's all that pretty, though. However, the recycling bin has just been replaced by the owner of SWIFT-EE's laundromat, adding a flair of fluorescent blue to the decor. If you're into street art, there's plenty of it too."

Nepeta giggled, and Karkat snorted. "Lovely. I'm sure my brother would flip his sh/t if he saw the undoubted mess." Nepeta opened her mouth to ask him about his brother, but she stopped. She wasn't sure why, but she did.

* * *

After walking for about forty minutes, they reached a slightly dingier part of the city. Karkat started to get a bit uneasy, but Nepeta kept right along. Soon enough, a flickering light came into view. "We're here!" Nepeta said excitedly, dragging him along with her as she sped up to a scamper. Karkat had no choice but to go along with her, making small noises of protest. "Hey, Nep, slow down. We have plenty of time."

She stuck her tongue out at him and razzed.

Karkat allowed himself to be dragged, giving up at that point, until they reached a fairly large alleyway with a small garbage fire in the middle. Karkat surveyed a few of the members. None of them were particularly interesting looking, but then again, the fire glare blotted half of them out. He was about to sit down when he heard a very starling voice.

"Brother?"

He jolted his head up, blinking. Did he hear...? He did. Karkat's face was the image of surprised.

So was Kankri's.

**I know I know I did a cliffy but oh well sucks for you**

**no just kidding i love you all**


End file.
